Boles v. Stevenson

In Boles v. Stevenson, 379 U.S. 43, 85 S.Ct. 174, 13 L.Ed.2d 109 (1964), involving a confession, the Court modified a judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which had ordered that a writ of habeas corpus issue unless the state retried the petitioner within a reasonable time. The Supreme Court held that the state might either retry the prisoner or grant a hearing on the disputed issue. In Boles v. Stevenson, 379 U.S. 43, 85 S.Ct. 174, 13 L.Ed.2d 109 (1964), where it was not clear whether a state trial judge had held a proper hearing on voluntariness, the Supreme Court concluded: "But it does not follow that the state is required to order a new trial. As we held in Jackson, supra, where a state defendant has not been given an adequate hearing upon the voluntariness of his confession, he is entitled to a hearing in the state courts under appropriate procedures and standards designed to insure a full and adequate resolution of this issue." 379 U.S. at 45, 85 S.Ct. at 176.